Independent Chair Appointed

March25, 2019

The Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council (ACiiTC) board have appointed an Independent Chair, Dr George Margelis.

ACiiTC was formed by the two industry Peak bodies Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) and Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) in 2007 with the express intent of providing the industry with a vehicle to consider and debate Information Technology related opportunities and to disseminate the lessons learned from that process to the wider aged care industry.

The primary objective of ACiiTC is to improve the quality of care for clients through supporting and educating aged care service providers about the efficiencies and service improvement capabilities that well managed Information Technology system deployments can achieve.

During its existence ACiiTC has undertaken a variety of activities and managed several projects including in 2017 the release of “Technology Roadmap for Aged Care in Australia”. The report recognises the need for technology to underpin the delivery of aged care services and ensure independence, choice and control for consumers. Three main issues are identified in the report including: population ageing that has never been experience at the same level; the rapid development of new technologies; and the reform of the aged care sector that fundamentally changes the way in which older Australians will be supported.

Newly appointed Independent Chair, Dr George Margelis will lead the ACiiTC board with his 30-year experience as a medical practitioner involved in technology and said “I am excited to be taking on the role of Chair of the ACiiTC at this crucial time. Older Australians deserve high quality care and services, but we face a number of challenges in providing them. Technology will enable us to not only deliver better care and service, but also allow us to continuously improve whilst ensuring the safety, dignity and autonomy of the older Australians we have the privilege to serve”. Originally trained as an optometrist, he started tinkering with computers in 1981 when he bought his first PC, before going back to medical school to complete his training at the University of Sydney. Dr Margelis was Chief Information Officer (CIO) of a private hospital group as well as managing an innovative software development team that produced a personal health record for Australians 10 years before the PCEHR. He joined Intel in 2005, and then Intel-GE Care Innovations as they tried to radically transform healthcare.

In 2013 he was appointed an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Sydney with the Tele-Health Research & Innovation Laboratory (THRIL) and is also currently a member of Ignition Labs a start-up incubator in the health space as well as a number of advisory roles. In July 2014 he was inducted into the Information and Technology in Aged Care (ITAC) Hall of Fame for his service to technology in aged care.

Over the last three decades Dr Margelis has been involved in both the healthcare world and the technology world and seeing a highly important fit between the two.

Dr Margelis officially started his appointment on Friday 22 March when opening the ACiiTC National Forum of the ACiiTC National Home Care Group and CIO Forum in Brisbane.

About Us:

The Aged Care Industry IT Council (ACIITC) was formed by the two industry Peak bodies Leading Age Services Australia (LASA) and Aged and Community Services Australia (ACSA) in 2007 with the express intent of providing the industry with a vehicle to consider and debate IT related opportunities and to disseminate the lessons learned from that process to the wider aged care industry.